OP I don't think 360 was released in 2015 and PS3 in 2016, unless you mean something different.....
Tbh, I don't think Sony is concerned about when MS launches. At the end of the day, games sell hardware and that's what they've been concentrating on since PS1. Even a problematic, high R&D PS3, which saw some drastic last minute changes to it's architecture, still pulled through, launching 1 year later at $600.00, with a weaker GPU, all the George Foreman Grill jokes and Amirox's prophecy of doom could not obsfucate one simple thing...and that is..."Games sell hardware"......More precisley....Many exclusives in varied genres...
It's the reason Nintendo keeps developing weak hardware the last few gens and people still buy their consoles and buy their games in droves, you can't get their wares elsewhere. Sony on the other hand is at the forefront of the best selling, highest rated, most diverse library and most technically competent developers on the planet, so that jives well with their more advanced kits over Nintendo, their plan seems to be pretty formidable. Get a solid piece of kit out there and let the devs make it sing...Take risks, greenlight many projects, some may fail, but some will do great.
Being the most powerful hardware has never guaranteed success in any generation, launching first does not either. It makes no sense to launch first and at year 3 or 4 you have dried up on software and ready to call it in. People will remember, that's why a longterm plan for software is so important. People try to call out Sony for launching GOW2 so late in the PS2 life-cycle or GT6 in the PS3's life-cycle etc.....but you have to honor and respect your vanilla hardware buyers, they form the majority of the console base and they've given you that success. In anticipation of a new gen or even on release of these mid-gen refreshes, you don't green light crappy PS4 vanilla ports because PRO exists, neither do you stifle compelling or exclusive software on PS4 because PS5 is on the horizon. I think that is the key to Sony's success and that's why it has had 3 consoles win the console race.
It's simple really, you get good and unique games for your hardware and people may start to look at your console as more viable as a first console or a secondary, because there's not too much overlap. You also need to get the read on the market and be in the gamers pulse, Kinect, Tv on a console and Voice as a controller was never a high priority for gamers this gen, you can't waste hardware, where there's no demand. It's just like UHD is doing nothing to sell XBOX consoles, because everyone is using netflix, hulu, amazon and a million more. Most have a nas based system or use DLNA, mainly plex, but beyond that UHD sales are just not taking the world by storm and good market research would have made that abundantly clear. In contrast, when PS2 landed, DVD's were on the rise and booming and millions got a DVD player, secondary to a console, but most importantly, the games used the space too, you even had games use several DVD's and some even dual layers. To me, all parts of a console must be tailored to it's main function and the inclusion there was warranted for games and served as a pretty convincing bonus for the movie watcher.....Again, lots of people watched DVD's then, not many people are plumping UHD's into drive slots these days.....So yes, you need to see how things are changing and what changes need to be made or prioritized for the hardware.
On another note....
Launching first can mean several things, what MS or Sony decide to focus on? Will MS go for Kinect 3.0? Will we see Mil...o...unhhh...I mean Molyneux on stage again, who knows what extras or bonuses they try to engineer into this one...and what extra costs it would bring. I know Sony will ensure that VR 2.0 is a go, 120fps minimum with a 240fps goal. I also believe that Sony will target 8k screens as well, as those will be available by the time of release. 4k 120fps for something to the tune of Quake champions, a much better looking one at PS5's release and 4k 60fps for most titles, even multi's. I think that should/will be the goal of next gen. Most will have 4k screens then, but a few will have an 8k Screen, so 8k 60 for indies or remasters will not be out of the ordinary.....
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